Aare Trail

Cycle along the Aare River Path

The Aare Trail is Switzerland’s first, fully signposted long-distance bicycle route, and it was created in 1995. It is a magnificent tourist attraction that already enjoys an international reputation. The Trail gives you an excellent idea of the variety of landscapes that characterize Switzerland. The starting point lies in the midst of the highest of the Bernese Alps – but don’t panic! The action of the river over millions of years has flattened the path and you can follow it quite easily.

The attractions along the way include the lakes formed by the Aare – Lake Thun, Lake Wohlen, Lake Bienne – as well as a variety of cities and villages, some with world-famous names, and some with names you will never have heard of before.

As the bike trail winds its way pleasantly along the lanes through woods and meadows, along fertile fields and through isolated villages where the charm of the provinces lives on unchanged, you will also have ample opportunity to see a true picture of everyday Switzerland.

Season A: April 13 to April 17 + April 22 to April 26 + May 5 to May 17+ October 6 to October 13, 2019Season B: April 18 to April 21 + April 27 to May 4 + May 18 to May 24 + September 15 to October 5, 2019Season C: May 25 to June 7 + June 23 to July 12 + August 25 to September 14, 2019Season D: June 8 to June 22 + July 13 to August 24, 2019

DAY 1: Arrival to Interlaken Interlaken, meaning between the lakes, is uniquely situated between the pristine lakes Thun and Brienz. Created during the last glacial period, these lakes boast crystal clear waters whose banks are home to picturesque fishing villages and ancient castles. Interlaken also finds itself surrounded by the impressive snow capped heights of Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau, part of the Bernese Alps.

DAY 2: Interlaken - Thun - Bern, 22 miles (35 km) + boat tripYou start the day with a pleasant two hour boat ride across Thun Lake. Sit back and relax and watch the countryside slowly slide by. From Thun, you cycle to Berne, a simple route and well sutied for acclimatizing to the days to come. Goethe thought Berne to be Switzerland's most beautiful town and though it is the capital of Switzerland, Bern has managed to maintain its unique historical features such as 15th-century terraced buildings, cobblestone streets, and lively market squares - it has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1983!

DAY 3: Bern - Biel, 31 miles (50 km)After Bern, the Wohlensee extends a warm welcome – and now you will witness the merry interplay between the dazzling beauty of nature and the industrial world of energy production. The vegetable-growing region in the Grossen Moos and later on the Lake of Biel mark the scenery of today’s route. The city of Biel, the largest in Switzerland, is the watch metropolis of the world. Rolex, Omega, and Tissot, among others, all have their home here. Biel's old town has a beautiful town hall and a gothic church dating from the 15th-century, certainly not to be missed during your stay here!

DAY 4: Biel - Solothurn, 19 miles (30 km)Following Biel, the Aare remains as your faithful cycling companion. The storks of Altreu circling in the sky provide a special addition to your trip, and soon the towers of the Solothurn Cathedral greet you from afar. In Solothurn, you may roam the picturesque lanes of the old center with its outdoor cafes, and perhaps venture an excursion to the local Weissenstein mountains.

DAY 5: Solothurn - Aarau, 37 miles (60 km)Riding leisurely through an enchanting river landscape between Berken, Aarwangen and Wolfwil, you will reach Aarau. Perfectly situated in the center of the city triangle of Zurich, Basel, and Lucerne, Aarau was Switzerland's first capital and home to the first Houses of Parliament. An appreciation of the arts can be felt here from the numerous cinemas, theaters, and museums, and of course the Aargau Art Valley, which has one of the most beautiful and extensive public collections of Swiss art dating from the 18th century to the present.

DAY 6: Aarau - Waldshut-Tiengen, 31 miles (50 km) Across the German border, today's destination is nestled in the southern Black Forest where the Aare flows into the Rhine: Waldshut-Tiengen. Waldshut-Tiengen is home to many medieval gates and towers, and is vibrant with rustic charm. Be sure to explore the castle, the parish church, and admire the beautiful Gothic houses along the way.

DAY 7: Waldshut-Tiengen - Schaffhausen, 40 miles (65 km) Back again to Switzerland, the day's trip will end in Schaffhausen. Most impressive about this Swiss town is the imposing Munot Fortress, which can be seen for miles. From the battlements of this stronghold, built between 1564 and 1589, you can see far and wide. Every evening at 9 p.m., the Munot guard who lives in the tower rings the Munot bell, which used to be a sign that the town gates and inns should close.

DAY 8: Schaffhausen - Constance, 31 miles (50 km)From Schaffhausen, the last bike ride will lead you to Constance, or right across the river to Kreuzlingen. Constance is a lively university town lying on the shores of beautiful Lake Constance. It has been a city since as early as the 1st-century AD, and quickly became a religious center. In the Old Town, you'll find the famed cathedral dating back to the 7th-century. Due to a border anomaly, the German city Constance lies on Switzerland’s land mass, and the Swiss town of Kreuzlingen is only a short walk away.

Customer Feedback

Manuel Pena11 months ago

Wow. I would definitely recommend this tour to anyone who wants to do something out of the ordinary. Our tour started on June 3rd, and I selected the 6 day tour for my son and I and it was just the right amount of length. By the end of the last leg we were just about beat. This was an easy ride, but if you don't bike much I would recommend the E-bikes to give you a little boost along the way. The standard bike's that were given to us were in excellent condition and we had no issues throughout the trip. All of the hotels we stayed in were adequate for what was needed and were in great locations in relation to the sites of each town. Each time we arrived at our hotel we would ask the attendant for a good place to eat and they always had great recommendations. I would recommend that you ask each hotel if they have a garage to store the bike and if they don't that you definitely lock them up and remove ALL of the saddle bags from the bikes and keep the bags Read more… stored in your room for the night. Unfortunately, one of our saddle bags was stolen over night. Aside from that small incident, my son and I had a great time biking through Switzerland. Now, I'm looking forward to my next trip with my other children.

My wife and I have just returned from a fantastic cycling trip along the Aare and Rhine Rivers in Switzerland. The organization of our trip was great, bikes, luggage transfer and hotels. We were particularly pleased to stay each night either in or near to the old centre of each city. Thanks Tripsite.

While we did have wind, rain and cold temperatures, the trip was absolutely beautiful. And I believe many people could physically do this ride, especially since you offer e-bikes. The challenges for us were the "less detailed" maps for arrival at the hotels each night. This was the greatest problem in Biel, Switzerland and especially in Konstanz,Germany. We are pretty intuitive about maps and locating directions. But, I think most non-European visitors might really be frustrated with being lost at the end of the day. Also, since we had a significant amount of rain, we wore through back brake pads on the bikes. We were able to change those ourselves; because we were traveling with our son who is a bike mechanic and brought his own tools. But, better quality brake pads would have eliminated that problem. Nevertheless, Switzerland is stunningly beautiful and we enjoyed ourselves immensely. We will definitely look forward to another trip such as this one. The hotels, the Read more… staff, the locations, and the Aare River were all great!!

Fantastic! We biked the Aare two years ago and it was great. We sought something a bit more challenging and selected this ride. We stayed in lots of small towns, biked on beautiful trails, and saw scenery just as exquisite as is shown on this site. Salzburg was outstanding. We had only one stretch of riding on a road with traffic; otherwise, it was serene.

First of all the scenery was breathtaking. We loved the fresh air, mountains, and lovely Swiss towns and villages. Bern was outstanding. The bell ringing cows, einstein’s home, the blue waters of the Aare and the lakes were outstanding.

We flew to Zurich, trained to Meiringen, got our bikes smoothly, and we were off. The weather was perfect and the “standard” bikes were high quality.

We chose the “standard” hotels and each one you chose was outstanding. The luggage was always at the next hotel before we arrived. Breakfast at each hotel was diverse and tasty.

You could improve upon the instructions. The book we received from Swiss trails was very good for high level view of the trip. Your additional paper copies were slightly helpful. It would be great if you could provide a few hints via map or written description of some confusion spots along the way. We found ourselves lost every day, but we were able Read more… to recover due to the nicely posted trail markers found throughout Switzerland.

When we completed the trip, we concluded that we could have done the trip without luggage. Perhaps provide a trip discount for those requiring no luggage transfer.

Biked This Tour? Post Your Feedback

see also

Around Lake ConstanceAustria, Germany, Switzerland4.4/5 (26 ratings)2019 7 Day Tour: Daily departures from April 18 to …Your bike tour around Lake Constance will lead through the countries of Austria, Germany, and Switzerland on the Lake Constance Cycle Route, one of Europe's …

Castles of the LoireFrance4.7/5 (3 ratings)2019: Arrival possible daily from March 1 through …Biking in the Loire Valley region has proven a haven for cyclists time and again and is rightly referred to as Royal Châteaux Country. (See also our Châteaux …